Back to the Hospital

E.'s cousin came to visit last night and I shared with her the events of the previous 24 hours.  She chatted with E. and could easily see how he was suffering in pain.  She and I agreed that he needed to go to the Emergency Room for some relief.  After tag-teaming him with our line of reasoning, he finally conceded.  We loaded him up and were on our way before he could change his mind.

The Emergency Room was not exactly what we expected on a Thursday night, but supposedly the computers were down which made everything go in slow motion.  We arrived about 8:00 p.m.  After doing an x-ray on E.'s abdomen, they discovered that he was backed up, not only with fecal matter, but also with barium (barium from his Upper GI from 11 days ago!).  That barium had essentially turned to concrete up there and was causing a few problems.  Ya think?  A large (and disgusting) enema was supposed to do the trick.  But it didn't.  It actually did nothing.  At all.  Except cause him A LOT of pain.  So, they decided to admit him.  At 5:00 a.m.  Yes, after we had been there for nine hours.  Sigh.

He got settled in a regular room on the Oncology floor.  But then they couldn't really do anything for him because he was scheduled for a PET/CT at 11:00.  Everything had to wait until after that test was completed.  (Side note:  As part of the PET/CT, he had to drink more barium.  I kid you not.)  Because the PET/CT was scheduled previously on an outpatient basis, it was scheduled in the office building across the street from the hospital.  That meant that E. had to be transported and I assumed we would just put him in a wheelchair and wheel him across the street.  Instead, the transport company put him in a wheelchair, took him through the Emergency Room, out the ambulance bay and into a van.  We then DROVE across the street (literally, across a residential street), unloaded him, went into the building and got him to his PET/CT.  We repeated the process on the way back.  I'm sure that just cost us a pretty penny.  On a good note, E. handled the scan like a trooper.

Once back in the room, they gave E. a shot in the belly to help get some things moving in there.  I forget what the shot is called.  They're also having him drink some "Magnesium Citrate," which supposedly also helps things along.  E. has been very cranky, and has gotten quite pissy with several of the nurses and doctors.  I know he's frustrated and that frustration is coming out.  He's also got a bit of confusion and disorientation, which only adds to that frustration.  Add intense pain to the mix, and it's just a ball of fun.

They did another x-ray of his abdomen to monitor the progress of sh*t in there.  Literally.  Haha.  He seems to think he's getting out of the hospital tomorrow, but I don't think that will be the case at all.  We haven't seen any of E.'s regular doctors.  I called his oncologist, who was out of the office.  I called his radiation oncologist, who was out of the office.  I called his gastroenterologist, who was out of the office.  I called his primary care provider, who was out of the office.  I guess this was THE Friday to take off.  Now that we're heading into the weekend, my guess is that we're here until at least Monday.  Hoping for some pain relief for him and some sleep for the both of us.